Alloy and process for its production.



ao therewith-or other meta STATES PATENT OFFICE.

new .1. laser, or NEW YORK, n. Y., assrenoa 'ro TITANIUM ALLOY manome- Q mo oomranr, or new YORK, 11. 2., a CORPORATION or mama.

' armor AND raocass roa rrs raonucrion'.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Oct. 5, 1909a 3 mm, Application med March as, 1007. aerial 110. 888,950. I To all whom-it may comm: copper previously to its reduction to molten Be it known that I, ApoUsrn J. Rossi, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of theborough of Manhattan, city, county, 5 and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Alloys and for T eir Production, of

, whichfthe-following is a specification. My present invention relates to improve- I 10 mm 1n, and processes for producing, al-

loys,'-including those of copper with other metals, such as tin, zinc, or lead, one or more, and designated, as the case may be, brasses or bronzes.

The copper of commerce contains impurities, and it has been found that admixtures, or alloys therewith of certain metals, or elements, such. as titanium, phorus, produces on such copper ior casting or other purposesicertain beneficlal results, for instance reduction, diminution, or even elimination of undesired compounds or gases resent in its'molten state, and which cause efects such as f pinholes tending to render such unsound and useless. While commercial copperitself, as say in the form 1 of-c has-been thus purified and imf proved, e introduction thereinto, in its remolten state,iof zinc, tin and sometimes lead l such as manganese to roduce resulting brasses or bronzes has .hit produced ,in the resulting bath a recurrence oilreonditions unfavorable to the cop and consequent unsoundness, if not use "of the resultin brasses or bronzes.' --Tll us for instance, mto the alloy,

in "molten state, compounds have been imand resulting gases developed and q ;occluded, which iowmg to their maliferous efiech especially u on the co per content,

have injuriously a ected the al oy produced even in cases in which the cop r ltself'had been, as above stated, previous purlfied.

' -My tests have demonstrated t at by mtroducin into the bath of molten cop r employed in production of the brass an bronze alloys referred to, tin, lead, or z1nc, themselvea previously improved by alloymg'for nning, with metals, or elements, capable ,ofalso producing, as aforesaid, desired etdeemthe copper, a satisfactory condithe-resulting alloy'z-is insured', and

"i eyeniin'high or de j than-in casesinfwhich gucliiadded meta or elements have been fieparately brought into the presence of the state for the purpose of" producing the brasses or bronzes referred to.

My present invention therefonescomprises not on y an improved process fol producing alloys of copper with other metals, as brasses or bronzes, but also the production of, and process for producing, as new articles, al-

oys or mixtures essentially metallic, of tin,

lead, and zinc, with metals, or elements, adapted not only to so improve the latter for the urpwe specified, but also'to so, as 'a'foresai ,in combination therewith, control conditions in the bath composed of the desired alloy in its molten state, and thus insure a sounder and more perfect final product than has heretofore been ossible.

My researches an tests have also demonstrated to my satisfaction that the metal titanium possesses, in the connection mentioned, exceptionally advantageous properties, notonly due to its eflect upon the copper, and such elements or compounds in the ath as are disadvantageous to the latter in the particulars mentioned, but also particularly upon the lead, tin and zinc, and such elements or compounds as may have special effects thereon under the conditions developed in the alloy bath, my particular novel combination of titanium .with the said metals, tin, lead, manganese and zinc, preliminarily to their introduction into said bath,

also a pearing to enhance the beneficent effect o the titanium upon the alloying bath and its resulting product, as compared to the effect produced'by merelyintroducing into suchbath a prevlously produced alloy of copper and titanium.

In general aspects my processes for producing the alloys of tin, ZlIlC, manganese or lead, respectively with titanium, are similar, varying in some details however as hereinafter more specifically described. As titanium exists rarely, if ever, isolated in metallic state, but only as alloyed with other. metal, principally iron, or sometimes copper, and none of these alloys serve my purpose, it is necessary to derive: the required titanium from its oxid. I

= My processes for producing my said novel alloys of tltanium with tin, zinc, manganese, or lead, are as follows? Taking first the alloy of'titanium with tin, this I produce by charging into a graphite crucible, or other container properly adapted, tin, titanic acid,

and preferably an oxid of'tin,'als o"such an amount of aluminum (preferably n shots or the like so as to melt more rapidly) as is chemically suflicient tudeeompose the oxid of titanium and also the OXKl of tin and reduce their respective titamum and t n contents to their metallic states. This mixture is then heated, as by a coke fire, in a wind furnace, or otherwise, to a-tem erature sufiicientl high to insure the me tin of the metaliic elements of the charge, an the taking place of the reactions above noted. The molten roduct, on being withdrawn and cooled wi 1 be found to be an alloy of tin and titanium, the percentage of the latter being proportional to the amount of titanic acid and aluminum charged, the reactions being as per the following formula, Viz:

While, in this instance, the presence of an oxid of tin is not absolutely essential, it nevertheless promotes considerably the reactlons desired in the charge, and accelerates its fusion into a homogeneous metallic alloy the heat of formation of the stannic acid being so small as to leave available a large excess of heat due exothermally to the combination of its oxygen with part of the aluminum of the bath. In this manner I have obtained an alloy of tin with titanium containing seven to eight per centum of t1tan1un1' and more. In operatmg th1s process any of thenow well known forms of so called electric furnaces may be employed, in which case the addition of stannic acid, while still advisable, is not as necessary as with other furnaces, since extra heat, if required, may be derived from the current. The pro ortions of the ingredients used in the c arge will be varied according to the. percentage of the respective metals desired in the alloy according to the foimulas above given and as experience and test in each case will readily demonstrate to those skilled in the metallurgical'art. I have also found it advantageous, though not always essential to add to the charge some fusible slag, such as broken glass, or a mixture of the latter with an ordmary iron blast furnace slag, comprising silica, alumina, lime and magnesia, or a slllcate of alumma and llme, in such proper proportions as can readily be determined in each case as to insure such slags floating on'the top of the charge, thus constituting, as it were, a blanket for the latter, and thus protecting the other aforesaid ingredients of the charge from oxidation at the surface by contact with the atmosphere. i

To produce mynew alloyof zinc and titanium, the same process as above described may be followed, with the exception that, in this charge zinc is substituted for tin and an oxid of zinc for an oxid of tin. In this manner I have produced alloys of zinc and titanium containing from six to ten 'cent'uni 'of the latter. In producin alloy'howeveritlwill rove substantia ly essential for industriall the atmosphere under the high temperatures required, thus avoiding an important loss of e that metal. It will also be noted in the instance last mentioned, owing to the stabilit of the'oxid of zinc and the ailinity" of t at metal for oxy en, that when pros tected from the atmosp ere by theaforesaid slag blanket, the zinc present in the char e will'assist in reducing, in part, the titamc 4 acid. In this instance, as in the case of my alloy of tin-and titanium, the proportions of the various ingredients. of the charge must be varied in each case accordin to the respective qualities of the in re ients as y economical results,' to utilize the slag blanket above described, =--.w "owing to the otherwise rapid and excessive v oxidation of the molten zine by contact with I experience will demonstrate an .therespec- V tive proportions of the metals desired in the resulting alloy. The formulas for'cal.cula-' tion in this instance being:

To produce -my new alloy of lead and titanium, the same process as aforesaid may be followed except that for the tin or .zinc in the charge, lead must be substituted, and an. oxid of lead for the oxid of tin or zinc. In this instance also proportions of ingredients of the charge will depend upon the special conditions of each case and resulting roducts desired. For instance, if litharge 1s used will be:

(PbO), the formulas for calculationemployed to produce, for the pu oses aforesaid, alloys, or mixtures .essentia y'metallic, of tin, zinc, or lead, with silicon,phosphorus, or any other purifier or-seasoner'desirable to be used in the treatment of copper; it is enough to substitute for the oxid of titanium an oxid of one of the elements thus to be mixed or alloyed, using as before molten aluminum asa reducer-of these oxids.

Having thus preliminarily prepared my novel alloys of. tin, lead or zinc with tita- ;n1,um, they may then be utilized in-the applicatlon of my improved process for alloying copper with those metals as follows, viz: The copper, either preliminarily purified or not, together with the said alloys, one or more as may be required according as brass or bronze is desired, are brought into each others presence in such proportions as may.

be preferred according to the practice of the art and the class of resulting product sought, within a crucible, furnace, or other container, and there'subjected to a temperature suflicient to bring them, in each others pres ence, to molten state, the temperature being maintained and other treatment accorded as is usual and well known in the art of producing such alloys until a thorough and homogeneous mixture and association of the respective ingredients of the charge has been effected. On cooling, the molten product will be found to be an alloy of copper with the particular metalor metals desired, as tin, lead, manganese or zinc, and containing also some titanium or other purifying metal or element employed, and possessed of exceptiopally superior qualities.

It will be understood that the introduction of the titanium may be effected by mixing it with the other metals as hereinbefore specified, in which case the said preliminary production of an alloy is, though preferable, not essential, it being suflicient to mix the titanium with the other metals during production of the final resulting alloy thereof with copper.

I do not, in this specification, make any claim to the aforesaid use, in these connections, of a molten slag blanket overlying the charge, because this is reserved for another application for patent.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is the following, viz:

1. The process of producing alloys of copper with other metal which consists in first producing an alloy of such other metal with titanium, next mixing said last mentioned alloy with copper, and then reducing the mixture tomolten state. i

2. The process of producing alloys of cop per with other metal which consists in first making an alloy. of the copper with titanium,

next producing an alloy' of such other metal alloy of copper with metal and including some titanium.

6. As a new article of manufacture an alloy of copper with other metals and including some titanium. I

7. As a new article of manufacture an alloy of copper with tin and zinc and including some titanium.

8. As a -new article of manufacture an allo comprising copper and zinc and-inclu ing some titanium.

AUGUSTE J. ROSSI.

Witnesses:

WALTER D. EDMoNns, PHILIP C. PECK. 

